Children Within
by Little Ms. Fangirl
Summary: Ash and Haley are two 17 seventeen year olds. Both are best friends and on their way to a concert. Then, tragedy happens. They slip in a puddle of oil that's on a bridge and their car crashes into the water below. Both are now separated in two different dimensions. Both must find a way home. Maybe the key isn't in brains and smarts though, maybe it's just learning to have fun again
1. Chapter 1

"Oh my God, Ash I can't wait for the concert!" Haley exclaims to her best friend as he continues driving to Los Angeles.

Ash Corvis, her best friend, and she, are driving to Los Angeles for an _Owl City_ concert. Haley had finally earned enough money from her journalism job to pay for them.

They were really expensive, especially since they're front row seat tickets. Plus, she even got back stage passes!

"Ash, I have a surprise for you." Haley grabs the small bag that she brought with her, and pulls out the backstage passes.

"Backstage passes!" she exclaims.

"No way! How did you get those?" Ash loves the surprise.

"I used all of the money I was able to save on them. I thought it would be a nice early birthday present." she looks at the shiny cards.

"Thanks, Haley. This the best present ever!" he smiles.

Both 17 year olds relax as Ash continues driving. The beautiful moonlight reflects off of Ash's amber eyes. Haley finds herself staring at the black watch on his pale skin and then back at the clock on the GPS. She realizes that his watch is a few minutes slow. She squirms around because of how much it's bothering her. Haley, being a perfectionist, needs everything to be perfect and exact or she just goes crazy. She undoes his watch and fixes it.

"Are you seriously fixing my watch because it's a few minutes slow?" Ash asks with a light laugh.

"Yes I am, now shut up and drive." She says as she continues with fixing the watch.

They sit in the car listening to _Owl City_'s latest album. Haley puts the watch back onto Ash's wrist. She's sure to be careful with it since it was Ash's grandfather's watch.

"How much longer until we reach L.A.?" Haley asks.

Ash takes a quick glance at his fixed watch, "Maybe in about 45 minutes."

"This is going to be the best concert ever!" Haley screams as she flings her arms in the air. After about 20 minutes, she starts getting a funny feeling.

"Ash, something doesn't feel right." She tells him.

"It's probably your nausea kicking in. We have been in the car for a while." He thinks that it's the logical explanation. Ash has always been a boy of science. Although he believes that Haley came from a family of psychics, he never truly believed that they had any true abilities.

"No, I seriously think there's something wrong." Haley's heart starts to race a thousand miles a second.

"Relax; there are a couple of bags in your purse if you get sick. I packed them 'cause I knew you wouldn't feel well after a while." He still thinks it's nausea.

As Ash drives, nothing happens, but then they see a large puddle of oil in the middle of the road.

"Ash, look out!" Haley screams.

He steps on the brakes, and they go spinning. He drives right off the bridge and they plummet into the water. They kick the doors out so they can get to the surface. The water's going all different directions, which is weird, and Ash and Haley are separated.

"Ash!" Haley screams.

Haley's then pulled under and resurfaces trying to catch some air.

"Haley!" Ash screams.

He too is pulled under, but is able to come back up only one last time for air. Haley is pulled under again. She hits her head off of a large, under water boulder and blacks out. She soon washes up on a river bank in the middle of a deciduous forest. She gasps for air as she climbs onto the bank and blacks out again. The climate colder than it should be, especially since they are in California. At least, it would be _if they are_ in California anymore…


	2. Chapter 2

A cool wintry breeze rushes by Haley's side. She shivers and moves the covers that are on top of her, closer to her body. She curls up trying to warm herself up. Wait a minute, why is she covered in a blanket? She drowned in the water, didn't she?

She opens her eyes. Haley checks her breathing and her body. She's definitely alive. She looks around I tries getting off of the bed, but a surge of pain goes through her wrist. She lifts up her wrist to see a bandage wrapped around it. There are more bandages around her right leg and on her head.

"That was some ride you must've had." An elderly woman's voice speaks.

Haley turns to see an old woman. She has long white hair put in two braided pigtails and is covered in animal skins and furs.

Haley backs up a little. The concussion that she more than likely has, makes her feel a little intimidated by the woman.

"It's alright sweetheart, I'm not going to hurt you." She comes closer, "What's your name?"

"Haley, Haley Foster." Haley replies softly.

"Well, Haley, you're lucky you were found. You had many sprains, cuts, bruises, and a broken wrist. And by the look of that bump you might have a concussion." She tells Haley.

"Where am I?" Haley looks around and sees that she's inside of a tent.

"You're in my village. Come, I'll show you around. You'll stay here until you can move around again." She helps Haley up, and gives her two wooden crutches.

She knows how to use crutches because she had broken the same leg in the fourth grade after a bicycle accident.

She walks out of the tent with her crutches. There are men, women, and children running around. The adults are either doing chores for the village or playing with the children.

"I'll take you to one of the most important people here. His name is Denahi. After I retire and join the spirits in a couple of years, he'll take my place. Right now, he's a sha-man in training." The old woman tells Haley, "Oh goodness, where are my manners? I am Tanana. I'm the sha-man at the moment."

She helped her inside of another tent. A young man, maybe in his early twenties, is talking to himself.

"Denahi, here's our guest. She's finally woken up." Tanana tells the young man. The young man turns around and Haley backs up a little. Haley can't believe how frightened she is.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." From the comforting smile on his face, she knows she can trust him.

"What happened last night?" Haley asks, "All I remember is falling off that bridge and hitting my head off of something."

She then then remembers Ash and the whole accident, but doesn't understand how she had gotten here. Is it possible she had floated all the way to the north?

"Where's Ash?" Haley starts to get worried.

"There was no one with you sweetheart. You were all alone." Tanana replies.

"Ash is gone?" Haley asks herself.

"You were found on a river bank in the woods. You were soaked, freezing, and were covered in wounds. My brother Kenai and his adopted little brother found you and brought you back here to be treated." Denahi says.

"Where are they? I'd like to thank them." Haley says with a smile.

"They should be on their fishing trip right now, but they said they'd be back to see how you were doing." Denahi says with a smile going right back to her.

"Oh, ok." Haley says frowning that her two savors aren't here. Tanana walks Haley out of the hut.

"Why don't we go meet the rest of the village?" Tanana offers. Haley nods shyly.

"Why does all of this seem so familiar? The people, the scenery, and everything here reminds me of something, but what?" Haley asks herself.

Ash wakes up in a dorm room. He's dizzy, but he is able to sit up. He looks around the room and tries getting out of bed when he suddenly looks at his leg. It's covered in fur! Both of his legs are covered in red-orange fur with black stripes! He looks at his arms. His arms are covered in fur, too! He doesn't even have hands anymore! He has giant red-orange furred paws with long claws! He screams loudly and falls backwards off of the bed. He moans in pain and finally notices the bandages on his right leg. He must've gotten hurt during the accident. He takes a pair of crutches that lay next to his bed. He stands up and walks over to a large mirror and looks at his reflection. In the mirror he doesn't see his face, but a large fox face with red-orange fur and black stripes! He has razor sharp teeth and still has his amber eyes. He turns his head and looks at the back of his body. With the fur the same solid shade as the rest of his body, he has a tail with black stripes and a white tip. He blinks a million times before sitting back onto the bed. He sighs and tries figuring out what happened to him.

"Look who finally woke up." A deep voice speaks.

Ash looks up to see a furry blue monster with purple spots on his body. He has small horns on his head, has furry long tail with the same pattern as the rest of his body, and is wearing the type of jacket that jocks usually wear. His calm blue eyes assure Ash that he's a good guy.

"What's your name?" the monster asks.

"Ash Corvis." Ash says nervously.

"Well, Ash, that was some accident you had. I'm not sure what happened, but looking at those wounds it must've been pretty bad." The monster says as he passes Ash the plate. It has eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and syrup.

"The last thing I remember was driving off of that bridge and getting separated from-" Ash doesn't finish.

"Where's Haley?" Ash asks. His voice is tense and he can feel his temperature rising. He believes that the creature took his friend.

"Ash, there was no one else with you. You were found on the river bay all alone." The monster says calmly

Ash calms down and sighs, "Ok, I'm sorry."

"It's ok. My name's James P. Sullivan by the way, but my friends just call me Sulley. My dorky roommate Mike should be here any minute now." Sully says.

"I'm here…" A nasally, yet kind of low voice says grumpily, "Now who's this dorky roommate you were talking about, Sullivan?"

I small, green Cyclops looking monster walks into the room. He has a large, emerald green, eye that seems to take up most of his body. He has two tiny horns on his head and wearing an expander, or something of the sort, on his front teeth.

"There ya are, Mike! Here's that new guy we found by the river." Sulley says quickly, not wanting to start a fight with Mike right now.

"Hiya, kid. As you can see, I'm Mike. I'm the _smart_ one of the room!" Mike says wanting Sulley to hear him. Sulley glares and cracks his knuckles with a growl.

"Ew, what's that smell? Is that your breath?" Mike asks with a smirk.

"Watch your mouth pipsqueak!" Sulley glares.

"Guys! Guys! Calm down!" Ash says. He grabs the crutches once more and walks over to the monsters, "Do you really need to fight? I mean, you are dorm mates. You should learn to get along."

Sulley and Mike look at one another and Sulley then speaks up, "Yeah, ok, we'll get along. Just as long as Mike doesn't give me a case of his nerdiness!"

"Only as long as I don't get a case of your halitosis!" Mike sneers. The boys get all up in each other's faces. Ash face-palms and sighs.

"_This is going to be some adventure…._" Ash thinks to himself


	3. Chapter 3

Tanana walks Haley around the village introducing her to everyone. They are all so nice. Some of them gave her some gifts as either a get well soon present or as a welcome to the village gift.

"Tanana, what are those necklaces they're all wearing?" she asks the nice old woman.

"Those are totems. Our spirits give them to us once we come of age. Each one will mean something and there will be an animal to represent it. Once we follow our totems, we either become a man or a woman." She explains to Haley.

"The spirits have given me one totem though. I'm not sure who it's supposed to go to." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a stone bear.

"The spirits tell me this is the bear of memories. This means that whoever gets it will become a man or woman by retrieving some forgotten memories." Suddenly, a breeze passes by Tanana making her hair flow in the wind.

"The spirits have just told me who this totem is for." She smiles.

She looks at Haley, "They say this totem belongs to you." She puts it around Haley's neck.

"Mine?" Haley asks confusedly.

"You'll figure it out eventually. Go take a walk, explore. Do whatever you'd like. I'll be here if you need anything." Tanana walks away.

With her crutches still under her arms, Haley starts walking. Suddenly, something runs under her feet and knocks her over.

"Ow." she groans.

Haley turns her head to see a little bear cub trying to get up. He falls back down and shakes his paw.

"Are you hurt?" Haley asks softly to the cub. The cub looks up and is a bit frightened.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Haley slowly gets herself up, and then grabs the cub gently.

She takes the cub into the hut Tanana had given her. Haley sets him on her bed, rips off some of the bandages that are around her leg, and puts it around the cub's paw.

"Where did you come from, little guy?" she asks the cub. He points to the woods.

"Where's your mom?" she asks him. He puts his head down.

"Don't you have a mom?" she asks. The cub shakes his head.

"Father?" she asks. He shakes his head again.

"Brother?" Haley finally asks. He perks up, smiles, and nods.

"Your brother is probably looking for you. Why don't I take you to him?" she asks. The cub smiles brightly and roars quietly in joy.

"I'll take that as a yes." She walks out of the tent with the cub hanging onto her back. Everyone was in a bunch gathered around something. With her crutches under her arms and the cub hanging onto her back, Haley walks over to the crowd.

"What's going on?" she asks one of the villagers.

"Kenai's back." The man replies.

Haley makes her way through the crowd and sees an adult bear. He's tan and has brown eyes. The cub jumps off of Haley's back and jumps onto the grown bear's back.

"This must be your brother." Haley assumes. The cub lets out a little roar and smiles at her. The little cub looks nothing like the older one. The cub is dark brown, with a light brown scruff, and has black eyes.

Denahi comes out from behind Haley, "These are the two bears that found you. My little brother, Kenai, and his adopted brother, Koda."

"Really?" Haley looks at the two happy brothers. She's never known what it's like to have a brother since she's been an orphan all her life.

"So your brother is a bear?" she asks Denahi.

"He was born a human, but after killing a bear he was turned into one himself. He learned that the bear he killed was that little cub's mother. So he decided to stay after realizing the bond he had grown with the cub." Denahi explains.

"Wow." The story touches Haley deeply. Although she has never heard of this tale before, it still seems very familiar to her. Maybe it hasn't been the first time she's heard about this tale. Where though has she heard it? A fairy tale book? No. A news article? No. Where has she heard this tale before?

"You must be Kenai." Haley looks at the adult bear after snapping out of her thoughts. Kenai just gives a warm, kind smile to her..

"Thank you for finding me. I don't know what would've happened if you and your brother didn't." Haley shows as much gratitude as she can towards the two bear brothers. The little cub showa Kenai his paw and then points at Haley.

"Your little brother hurt himself after accidentally running into me, but I wrapped up his paw so it would heal." Haley tells Kenai. The little cub jumps off of Kenai's back and rushes up to Haley. He gently puts up his paw.

Haley tries her best to kneel down. She holds his little paw and feels how warm it is. The wind ruffles Haley's hair and Koda's. Koda's and Haley's eyes meet. Haley feels a strong connection, almost like a strong bond, between her and the cub.

Kenai gives a small roar to Koda. Koda looks at his brother and nods softly. He carefully takes his paw away from Haley's hand and runs over to Kenai. Kenai gently nuzzles Koda's paw. Kenai turns to Haley a final time and gives a small, friendly nod before running off to a cave close to the village. Haley looks at her hand. She can still feel the warmth from Koda's paw. The traces of a smile appear in the corners of Haley's lips. She stands up, puts the crutches back under her arms, and makes her way to her hut. It's been such a long day for her.

Haley wakes up in the middle of the night. She had dreamt about the accident.

"Am I ever going to go home again? Will I ever find Ash?" she asks herself.

Haley grabs her crutches and walks outside. The Northern Lights dance across the sky. They are touching the top of a mountain singing a soft melody that can be heard from her hut all of the way down here at the village.

"Maybe just for a little bit." she tells herself. She's decided to go up there and think for a little bit.

There's a nice, smooth path going up the mountain. She walks up the path and is there by dawn. She sits down on a nice patch of grass and flowers.

"Please let me find my way back. I like it here, but I just wish there was a way back. In fact, I don't even know where I'm at." Haley speaks softly.

She sits there, listening to the songs that are sung throughout the dancing lights. She takes out the totem Tanana had given her and looks at it. Suddenly, her bandages unwrap themselves, floated in front of her, and disappeared into thin air. She watches as all of her cuts, bruises, and pains fade away.

"What the-" before she can finish, the lights that sit above her get closer. The lights come right in front of her and take the form of a man.

I slowly backed up, but the man's eyes gave her a look that speaks, "Do not be alarmed, I'm here to help you."

Haley looks at him with scared eyes. The man walks over and kneels next to her. He places his hand underneath her totem and holds it up.

"My totem: The bear of memories. What does it have to do with anything that's going on right now?" she asks.

He only gives a tiny chuckle before setting the totem back onto her chest and fading away.

"Where'd he go?" Haley thinks to herself as she looks around. How is it possible that he just disappeared like that?

The song that the spirits are singing gets louder. Haley looks up to see a giant eagle. It picks her up with its talons by her shoulders and lifts her high into the sky. His wings fold around her and forms the shape of a bear's head. It encloses around her body and a roar is heard from it. The shape then collapses and it spins around her. Haley spins with it and transforms into a bear with a great roar. She's then lowered to the ground. She gets up, a moan-like growl escaping her throat, and then passes out on the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

Ash wakes up in his bed to the sound of fighting.

"Why did you use my toothbrush to scrape mud off of your dirty paws?" Mike yells at Sulley.

"Because there weren't any wash cloths which you were supposed to get washed!" Sulley yells back at him. Ash sits up and rubs his head in annoyance. He had fallen asleep to them yelling, and now he's awoken to them yelling.

"Do you guys mind? I'm trying to sleep!" Ash asks with a great deal of irritation. The two arguing monsters turn to him and chuckle sheepishly, rubbing the back of their necks with their claws.

"Sorry, Ash!" Mike apologizes with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, we're sorry!" Sulley says.

Ash sighs, "I forgive you, but just as long as you can try to get a long for a couple of days while I try to heal. Other than that, you can fight all you want, but do you really wanna drive everyone nuts from your bickering? How would feel if me and another one of the students here were bickering 24/7? Wouldn't be very relaxing, now would it?"

Both monsters look at each other, sigh, look to the ground, and softly speak in unison, "No…"

"That's what I thought." Ash says, crossing his furry orange and black striped arms across his chest.

It's silent for a moment when Mike finally speaks, "We should probably get you enrolled into the college."

"What?" Ash asks confusedly.

"If you're gonna stay here, you might as well join the school." Sulley says to him.

Ash nods, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Great!" exclaims Mike cheerfully. He tosses Ash come clothes, a black shirt with a collar and some white dress pants, and leads Sulley and himself out of the room so Ash can change.

Once he's changed, Ash finds a pair of black shoes from Sulley's closet and puts them on. Normally, monsters don't wear clothes, but if they're trying to make a good impression, like today when they'll meet the head of the college, they'll dress up nice. Ash stands up and finds Mike and Sulley waiting for him in the hall. Surprisingly, he's found them just standing next to each other, both leaning against the wall with arms crossed, patiently waiting.

"Wow, I think this is the longest you guys have gone without fighting while being within 10 feet of each other." Ash teases. Mike and Sulley only shrug their shoulders and pull Ash along towards the office building.

"You ready to meet the head of the college?" Mike asks with a kind smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Never really thought much about college before, though. College seemed more of a waste of time to me." Ash replies, keeping his gaze on the path in front of them.

"A waste of time?" Mike gasps, "How is it a waste of time? College is what gets you the best jobs you could get! In college, you could meet your first love! Your best friends! You can even find your true talents!"

"Whatever you say." Ash mumbles with a soft sigh.

Sulley stops the two of them and says softly, "We're here." The two young monsters look at him. He's staring at a large brown door that has the name, "Dean Hardscrabble" engraved on a golden plate near the top of the door. Sulley and Mike take a deep, yet very soft, breath before they knock on the door in unison.

"What? What is it? What do you want?" a voice says in an irritated manner. The voice must belong to a woman no older than about 40. At least, that's what Ash thinks. She sounds strict, yet it seems it could be gentle and kind if it wanted to.

"W-We've brought the new student." Mike squeaks from behind the door.

It's silent for a moment, before the voice finally speaks again. It's still sounds irritated, "Bring him in then! Don't keep me waiting!"

Sulley opens the door, sweaty palms turning it gently so he won't irritate the Dean any more than she sounds. All three monsters barrel in and stand the appropriate 2 feet distance from the important monster.

Ash stares at the large desk. The desk is covered in stacks of paper and one of those large calendars that are put on large desks for teachers to use. Another gold plate is seen, but it's on the front of the dark brown, wooden desk. Once again, the name "Dean Hardscrabble" is engraved on it. His gaze then rises to the figure behind the desk. She's standing with her face behind them, staring out a window with her hands folded behind her back.

"So, you're the monster we found on the river bay." The older monster says, her voice full of what seems to be disgust.

"Y-Yes ma'am." Ash stutters. His eyes then widen in fear a little bit as the Dean turns to all three juvenile monsters. She's tall. She's very tall, actually. She reminds Ash much of an insect. Her large body is carried by maybe a hundred legs, probably fifty legs on each side. Her body stands straight and tall showing off her serious personality. Her long, skinny arms are ended with long sharp claws on her five fingers. She wears a white shirt with a spikey collar with a reddish-brown business jacket on top. The color of the jacket matches the color of her exoskeleton. Although they can't be seen, wings of the same shade are folded up on her back. Her head his small, but not so small that it's out of place. She has wide almond eyes with beady auburn eyes, much like Ash's. Both eyelids are covered with what may be purple eye shadow. Frills are placed on the back of her head.

"I'm guessing you're here to apply for the school." She says, her eyes look right into Ash's.

"Yes, he is ma'am." Mike says.

"Not you! I want this young monster to answer. Tell me, do you really want to join my school?" she holds her head up high to show Ash how serous she is.

Ash looks right into her eyes and grows a patch of confidence. He straightens his posture and nods, "Yes I am, ma'am."

The Dean gives a small grin and makes her way over to Ash with a small packet of papers that has the university's symbol on the corners on the top of both sides of the papers. In the center in bold blue letters says the words, "Monsters' University Application". She hands them to Ash and her smile grows slightly, her eyes say that she knows what she's doing. She opens her mouth and says softly, "Welcome to Monsters' University."


End file.
